Nocturnal garden | Nocturnal garden all filled with silence

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by Renée de Brimont, Mme la Baronne (1880 - 1943)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Jardin nocturne

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG GER

Nocturne jardin tout empli de silence,
voici que la lune ouverte se balance
en des voiles d'or fluides et légers ;
elle semble proche et cependant lointaine...
Son visage rit au cœur de la fontaine
et l'ombre pâlit sous les noirs orangers.

Nul bruit, si ce n'est le faible bruit de l'onde
fuyant goutte à goutte au bord des vasques rondes,
ou le bleu frisson d'une brise d'été,
furtive parmi des palmes invisibles...
Je sais, ô jardin, vos caresses sensibles
et votre languide et chaude volupté !

Je sais votre paix délectable et morose,
vos parfums d'iris, de jasmins et de roses,
vos charmes troublés de désirs et d'ennui...
ô jardin muet ! -- L'eau des vasques s'égoutte
avec un bruit faible et magique... J'écoute
ce baiser qui chante aux lèvres de la Nuit.

Confirmed with Renée de Brimont, Mirages, Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1919, page 53.

Text Authorship:

by Renée de Brimont, Mme la Baronne (1880 - 1943), "Jardin nocturne", written 1919, appears in Mirages, in 1. De l'eau et des paysages, no. 23, Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, first published 1919 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "Jardin nocturne", op. 113 no. 3 (1919), published 1919 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mirages, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Durand & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Jardí nocturn", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Nocturnal garden", subtitle: "Nocturne in the garden", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Nächtiger Garten", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Didier Pelat

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 130

Nocturnal garden

Language: English after the French (Français)

Nocturnal garden all filled with silence,
Here is the open moon orbiting
Through veils of gold, fluid and light;
It seems close although distant...
Her visage laughs in the heart of the fountain
And shadows grow pale beneath the dark orange trees.

There is no sound, other than the faint trickle of water
Dripping drop by drop from the edge of round bowls,
Or the blue frisson of a summer breeze,
Furtively blowing among unseen palms...
I know, oh garden, your sensitive caresses
And your languid and ready pleasures!

I know your delectable, gloomy peace,
Your perfumes of jasmine and rose,
Your charms disturbed by desire and ennui...
Oh mute garden! -- water drips from each bowl
With a faint, magical sound... I listen to
Each kiss, singing on the lips of Night.

Subtitle: "Nocturne in the garden"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Renée de Brimont, Mme la Baronne (1880 - 1943), "Jardin nocturne", written 1919, appears in Mirages, in 1. De l'eau et des paysages, no. 23, Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, first published 1919
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-03
Line count: 18
Word count: 132